Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Dmitry Medvedev: Firstly, I would like to congratulate you and thank all the residents of the Krasnoyarsk Territory for doing such a good job of organising this forum, because it really has already become an established and popular event. It's really good that it is not being held in Moscow, in St Petersburg or Sochi but in Siberia, because after all there should be events which discuss regional issues, not just national ones.
The forum has established itself well, and I think the discussions will be interesting. We are grateful to the Krasnoyarsk residents for their patience and for welcoming us and bearing the trials and tribulations of organising such events. But this kind of practice is never wasted, because if Krasnoyarsk wants to host the World Student Games then it has to be capable of hosting big events. That is what is in reality achieved by training, concerted action and the desire to welcome guests.
Yesterday we spent almost the whole day on education, if you don't count the World Student Games and sporting issues. This is an extremely important item, we've just been talking about what education we need, who should study in this country, how they should study, who should teach. Yesterday we spoke about the development of the Siberian Federal University. I am pleased to see that over the past five years it has learned to stand on its own two feet, and on the whole is already a strong educational establishment. But it is vital to create direct links between those programmes that exist in the university (that is of course a federal task rather than a regional one) and those industries where employers are currently formulating demand, so that every graduate of the Siberian Federal University and in fact any educational institution in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and in other places, understands where they will end up working. I talked with students yesterday and I got the impression that there was a problem here, even in those industries with a shortage of specialists. That is why setting up chains of cooperation between the university, industry, employers and the state (at the regional or federal level) is a very important factor for the development of the region and of the country as a whole. How do things stand with you in this respect, how does it affect the employment situation, how does it impact on new projects (which incidentally you showed me today, they are really ambitious and interesting)?
Lev Kuznetsov: Mr Medvedev, you correctly pointed out at yesterday's meeting of the board of trustees that in the Krasnoyarsk Territory the minimum requirement today, and I'm sure the same can be said of other regions in Russia, is to change and modify the education system. We are not talking separately about primary, secondary and higher education. We're talking about them as a whole, as a continuous process. Things that have been accomplished in recent years, including the establishment of federal universities, the transfer of the authority over secondary, primary, and specialised education to the regions, and the fact that we are modernising the primary school system, allow us to address the challenges of time.
Importantly, not only has the state changed and is now building a professional training system, but businesses have also realised that they should be actively involved in these processes. Resolution No 218 allows businesses to involve our researchers and universities in technology modernisation programmes that improve their competitiveness and provide motivation for promoting the education system.
Other important aspects include renaming the existing employment service to the labour market planning service in order to be able to train employees for existing needs. We are working on this programme in conjunction with large and medium-sized businesses, including Russky Aluminiy and Norilsk Nickel.
Promoting information and satellite systems (it was reported about them yesterday) that use high-tech equipment is important. Our key goal, together with the Ministry of Education, is to revise and modernise the entire education system – I also spoke about this yesterday. We want federal universities to be at the heart of the system of higher education, when we, along with the business community, start teaching children already in primary school.
We have classes sponsored by Norilsk Nickel and Rosneft. We have information and satellite systems classes. This is how we are creating the standards of education and training, and retraining the existing workforce. This problem is being addressed, and there are many things to be accomplished, especially at schools.
With regard to employee compensation, we in the Krasnoyarsk Territory exceeded our target for teachers’ salaries in the fourth quarter at over 30,000 roubles a month, with the average salary in the region standing at 28,300. We realise that this is just the beginning, and we can now encourage the education system to make changes and meet the demands of time. However, this is not an easy job.
Dmitry Medvedev: No, it’s not. However, we should proceed based on the real-life demand and see what professions we need rather than just planning for a certain numbers of graduates. We should talk with businesses and the public sector and then make a decision on who studies where, so that everyone can get a job after graduation. Let me reiterate: with the number of large projects in the Krasnoyarsk Territory ... With a proper workforce...
Lev Kuznetsov: We are already faced with labour shortages.
Dmitry Medvedev: … that’s another reason for you to train the workforce that you need. It’s important.
Lev Kuznetsov: We brought the unemployment numbers from 30,000 down to 24,000 in 2012.
Dmitry Medvedev: Salaries are on the rise, too.
Lev Kuznetsov: Yes, salaries here in our region are among the highest in the nation.
Dmitry Medvedev: Salaries are becoming higher and yet it’s hard to find good workers, because it requires proper planning, expert distribution according to skills and professions. This work should be done together by Moscow and regional authorities. Let's do this.
<…>